Mornin', everyone. My own way of marking the arrival of deep summer is pretty simple. On days when going for a run as "early" as 8 a.m. is still a stifling chore, it's here. That's how it was this morning in Central Park - oppressively humid and hot. The up-side, though, is that these languid days really allow you to blow out your system with a good run, and there's nothing as luxurious as a long, mostly cold shower after the workout.
As you all know, the calendar in this post-Olympic Games year is a little screwy, and by happenstance the U.S. Open takes place about as late as it possibly can, calendar-wise; the tournament begins in the 31st of August because Labor Day - the first Monday in September - falls at the latest possible date: Sept. 7. This is welcome news for me, because we're in the midst of selling our apartment and closing the deal on a new one, three blocks south and three blocks west of where we are now. Looked at another way, it's a switch from Central Park to Riverside Park (along the Hudson River). In any event, it's going to be a busy few weeks, because both real estate transactions and the process of moving are absurdly complicated affairs in New York City.
The late date of the U.S. Open suggests that the weather will be temperate, which is always welcome news. There are times at the Open when I marvel at the sheer ability of the spectators to sit packed together in one stadium or another in the broiling sun, hour upon hour. It's a true testament to the passion of the tennis fan.
It's pretty dead around the office, and also out on the tour, it seems. The news of the day is that both Gilles Simon and Philipp Kohlschreiber were upset in Stuttgart, clearing the way for Nikolay Davydenko to tip-toe in and snatch the title - who's going to stop him, Fabio Fognini (his quarterfinal opponent)? Good for Kolya; the little dude who could easily pass for a postman in a tiny, rural Russian village can use the points - and confidence - with the upcoming Masters 1000 events approaching.
Our social director, Jackie-Oh, will be back a little later with a Deuce Club post that most of you will probably enjoy, and while I don't want to give away the topic, it will be pretty interactive and provide a good opportunity for you to share your tastes with each other. I'm off with Tom Perrotta to meet Andrew Friedman and his boy, Declan, for lunch. And Cowboy Luke's six-shooter cap cap guns, a matched pair, complete with holster, arrived today. Now I have to go out and find those old-fashioned roll caps, so that we can go hold up a bank or something this weekend at the farm. We've been watching old episodes of Bonanza on DVD, so the pump is primed!
Stay tuned - and have a great weekend!
-- Pete